Science News

phys — Physicists have trapped and cooled exotic particles called excitons so effectively that they condensed and cohered to form a giant matter wave.

blogs.discovermagazine — Just a quick update: a new series of pictures of the Dragon capsule as seen by astronauts aboard the International Space Station has just been released, and they’re way cool. Here’s one: [Click to embiggen.] Earlier today, Dragon passed just 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the station, performing a series of tasks...

phys — (AP) -- Facebook's rocky initial public offering hasn't stopped life at the world's biggest online social network. On Thursday, the company unveiled a camera app for the iPhone.

blogs.discovermagazine — Several neural diseases, including chronic pain and epilepsy, involve a lack of restraint. That is, damage to nerves in the spine reduces the levels of a signalling chemical called GABA, which silences excitable neurons. The result: too much neural activity. There are drugs that can restore GABA, but they don’t always...

blogs.discovermagazine — A correspondent emailed me to tell me that Linda Chavez, whose father was a New Mexican Hispano, was found to have Sephardic Jewish ancestry in Henry Louise Gates Jr’s Finding your Roots series. This brings me to point to a recent paper, The impact of Converso Jews on the genomes...

blogs.discovermagazine — I often hear in the media that Hispanics are “socially conservative.” For that sort of thing you do need “quick & dirty” rules-of-thumb, and the assertion seems broadly plausible. On the other hand, the Hispanic attitude toward gay marriage isn’t really that different from non-Hispanic white (see GSS MARHOMO variable)....

popsci — Mars Phoenix Lander and Rocks The Phoenix lander prepares to grate some Martian rocks. NASA Since the Viking landers' footpads touched down on Mars, scientists have been searching for complex carbon molecules there, which on this planet are the building blocks of all life. They've found some examples in meteorites...

news.sciencemag — Obama taps geologist, policy expert Allison Macfarlane

popsci — SpotterRF M600C Offering a motion-sensitive look from a long way away. SpotterRF If you're a soldier suspecting an ambush, you probably don't have much time to spare, and you definitely can't afford to be carrying any unnecessary weight. That's why so much military tech involves shrinking whatever's portable, and why,...

phys — A new study led by scientists in the Department of Biology at the University of York has shown how a butterfly has changed its diet, and consequently has sped northwards in response to climate change. Their study is published in the latest issue of Science.

phys — A New York broker has asked Nasdaq to compensate it for up to $35 million in losses on the Facebook initial public offering due to the market's computer problems on the first day of trade.

phys — Google on Thursday began revealing details about requests for links to be removed from Internet search results on the grounds they lead to copyrighted material posted without permission.

news.sciencemag — Senate spending panel calls for more research on bomb-sniffing canines

jpl.nasa.gov — A scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has accurately determined the mass of a nearby asteroid from millions of miles away.

blogs.discovermagazine — It’s a tough time to be a science fiction hero. Just look at the headlines for proof! First, there’s this: Honestly, that’s not surprising. He does seem to get into trouble wherever he goes. So misunderstood. But it would’ve been interesting to know where the TARDIS materialized in that situation. This next one...

phys — (AP) -- Global warming is rescuing the once-rare brown Argus butterfly, scientists say.

phys — (Phys.org) -- The Santa Barbara, California, company, HyperSolar, is set to transparently share the ups and downs of its research experiences toward the company’s ultimate vision, successfully producing renewable hydrogen. The company is setting down experiences with their own development processes. The company this week reported an achievement, in that...

npr — Meat processors blame social media and their own lack of transparency for the "pink slime" storm. . But will consumers ever trust the industry when it comes to understanding how the food processing system works?» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

news.sciencemag — Chemical patterns of tiny magma crystals track changes in volcanic activity

phys — (Phys.org) -- Researchers sponsored by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) announced that they have successfully created contact hole patterns for a wide variety of practical logic and memory devices using a next-generation directed self-assembly (DSA) process. Applying a relatively simple combination of chemical and thermal processes to create their DSA...

blogs.discovermagazine — Gallus gallus, the undomesticated ancestor of modern chickens Chickens, the surviving descendants of once-mighty therapod dinosaurs, have come to dominate American dinner tables, where its meat is consumed at a rate of 80 pounds per person per year. How the wild grub-eating Gallus Gallus was tamed and commodified into frozen breaded cutlets is...